Here is my personal experience with cell phones and other technology in school. Cell phones shouldn’t be banned because they provide a helpful resource.
Without cell phones, kids cannot personally contact their parents in emergencies. For example, if there was a fire or something else, my mom would want to know immediately.
I understand that phones can be a distraction, but a person can choose to be educated or not. Kids can become easily distracted by social media, whether it’s a cell phone, school Chromebook, or other device. The solution is to refrain from banning phones because kids will always have access to social media, games, and other platforms on the school’s technology.
Cell phones can be a great learning resource; they allow you to access national geographics, audiobooks, and various websites. Teachers use phones/computers and other technology for Kahoots and communication. Phones are one of the primary social skills used today. If a teacher can contact their family during the day, we should be able to do it, too.
As I mentioned earlier, when a person chooses if they want to learn or not they make their own distractions. There is always something around to distract kids, other students, technology, etc. You can’t eliminate all distractions because then people would have to be separated from each other. When you are old enough to have a phone, you should be responsible enough to use your phone during the appropriate time. Not everyone should be punished for someone being distracted on their own phone.
During this school year, I have seen people be more worried about who might be texting them than paying attention. This is because they need to get the opportunity to check their phone or keep it to themselves. If the government said, all crime has to end because it’s hurting other people, this would be ridiculous, like the proposed cell phone policy. When you take people’s freedoms away they will only rebel more.
A secretary or principal sending out a text is not enough to comfort those we love in emergencies. My parents and other families need to be informed by their own kids and be able to comfort them. If you are at school and someone gets hurt and a teacher is not in the classroom, then you need to be able to call for help.
The world is in a digital age, and we must be taught how to use our devices as resources rather than distractions. We have computer classes, but we can’t have phones. That does not make any sense. People who have discipline will have discipline, and those who break the rules will find a way to do it regardless. With this in mind, bans do not do anything positive; they hurt those doing the right thing and don’t affect those doing the wrong thing.
– by M. Burns (11th) Panguitch
Read more about the moral issues with banned cell phones in schools in A Phone Ban Is Not the Right Approach by D. Harker.